Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente will open a new medical facility in Lansdowne next year as part of a long-term strategy to double the number of patients it serves in the Mid-Atlantic region in the next decade. The health care provider said Wednesday that the 130,000-square-foot building will take a one-stop-shopping, approach, with many specialty services offered under one roof, much like California-based Kaiser's facilities on the West Coast. Kaiser also will build three other new facilities by 2013 in Montgomery County, Fairfax County, Va., and Washington.

Kaiser Permanente will open a new medical facility in Lansdowne next year as part of a long-term strategy to double the number of patients it serves in the Mid-Atlantic region in the next decade. The health care provider said Wednesday that the 130,000-square-foot building will take a one-stop-shopping, approach, with many specialty services offered under one roof, much like California-based Kaiser's facilities on the West Coast. Kaiser also will build three other new facilities by 2013 in Montgomery County, Fairfax County, Va., and Washington.

Kaiser Permanente officials are hoping a new agreement wit Johns Hopkins Medicine will attract new customers and strengthen its position in the mid-Atlantic region.The nation's No. 1 HMO, which has about 52,000 members in the Baltimore area, said yesterday that it will allow patients in certain networks to receive care from Hopkins-affiliated physicians after the beginning of the new year. Currently, Kaiser members may see only the HMO's own doctors."We have been unable to sell our choice products in the Baltimore market because of the limited provider network," said Bob Williams, vice president and executive director of Kaiser's Baltimore office.

Marketing firm wins eight awards Crosby Marketing Communications received eight awards during the "Best in Maryland" program hosted by the Maryland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Crosby won Best in Maryland in: *Nonprofit annual reports for "Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Foundation: Report to the Community 2006" *Audio/video programs for "On Any Given Day," a public education video for the National Association of Social Workers *Marketing communications: existing products or services for Kaiser Permanente's Personal Health Kit. Crosby won the Award of Excellence in: *Special purposes publications for the "Art Bra," a series of posters for the Anne Arundel County Department of Health *Special events and observances for "Celebrating 100 Years in the Community," an anniversary campaign for Washington Adventist Hospital *Public service for "Poverty Line," a campaign for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development *Marketing communications: Existing Products or Services for Kaiser Permanente Federal Open Enrollment *Creative application of technology for "Hack & Yack" teen e-cards, a project to promote non-smoking for the Anne Arundel County Department of Health.

One on One is a weekly feature offering excerpts of interviews conducted by The Evening Sunwith newsworthy business leaders. Alan J. Silverstone is a senior vice president and regional manager for Kaiser Permanente, a health maintenance organization operating nation-wide. Q. Kaiser Permanente is a well-known Health Maintenance Organization across the country. What is your operation like in the Baltimore region and what are your future plans?A. We currently have five medical centers in the Baltimore area and we have 11 in Washington area.

The Sheppard Pratt Health System yesterday entered the managed-care market by winning a three-year contract to manage and deliver mental health services for members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program.The contract covers 33,000 members of Kaiser's Baltimore health maintenance organization for a pre-negotiated annual fee, which was not disclosed.It is the first time Sheppard Pratt vied for managed-care business and comes as it seeks to broaden its historic mission of treating mental illnesses.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kaiser Permanente, the United States' largest health maintenance organization, agreed yesterday to let its Northern California nurses' union appoint "quality liaison" nurses to serve as watchdogs at each of the organization's hospitals in the region and to force prompt attention to abuses and oversights in the care of patients.Because of the organization's size and influence, with nearly 9 million enrollees in 18 states, analysts and federal officials said the agreement was a striking breakthrough in both patient protection and labor-management relations in the health care industry.

Anne Arundel Medical Center added to Kaiser network plan Anne Arundel Medical Center was added to the Kaiser Permanente network plan in an agreement signed Thursday with Anne Arundel Health System Inc. Kaiser members in the county will continue to be served by physicians at its facility in Severna Park and by AAMC physicians in the affiliated network. Kaiser members are covered for treatment at Anne Arundel Diagnostics and Pathways Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, which are Anne Arundel Health System affiliates.

Baltimore County will join a growing number of counties this fall as it sets up a health care plan for some of its 105,000 residents who have no medical insurance.A $100,000 grant from a Columbia-based nonprofit agency will be used to operate a program providing medical services for several hundred adults, according to Dr. Michelle Leverett, county health officer.The services will be donated by Kaiser Permanente.Leverett, formerly a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said the program aims to serve people who depend on hospital emergency rooms for their medical care.

In what he called "one of the building blocks" of a proposed health care plan for uninsured residents in Howard County, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson announced yesterday the county's participation in a program to provide up to two years of low-cost coverage for 175 county residents. Kaiser Permanente will make available the health maintenance organization coverage to uninsured participants as part of the company's national "Bridge Plan," which is designed to help people left without insurance because of job loss, divorce "or some other life-changing event," said Derek A. Barnett, director of Kaiser Permanente's Community Benefit Division.

In what he called "one of the building blocks" of a proposed health care plan for uninsured residents in Howard County, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson announced yesterday the county's participation in a program to provide up to two years of low-cost coverage for 175 county residents. Kaiser Permanente will make available the health maintenance organization coverage to uninsured participants as part of the company's national "Bridge Plan," which is designed to help people left without insurance because of job loss, divorce "or some other life-changing event," said Derek A. Barnett, director of Kaiser Permanente's Community Benefit Division.

New Positions McCormick names Wilson U.S. division president McCormick & Co. Inc. named Alan D. Wilson president of its U.S. consumer products division. He most recently was the division's vice president and general manager for sales and marketing. Before joining the Sparks-based spice and flavors company, he was in product supply at Procter & Gamble Co. The Cockeysville resident graduated from the University of Tennessee and served as an officer in the Army. Advertising And Public Relations McWhorter joins MGH as assistant team leader MGH, the Owings Mills ad, design and public relations agency and consulting firm, named Amy McWhorter to the staff as an assistant account team leader.

Kaiser Permanente to open new center in Annapolis in Jan. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States announced that it will open a new 16,000-square-foot medical center at 888 Bestgate Road next to Westfield Shoppingtown (Annapolis Mall). Doctors will begin serving Kaiser Permanente members at this location Jan. 2. Physicians who specialize in pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, dermatology, allergy, and general surgery will have practices at the medical center.

Faced with ballooning costs, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States said yesterday that it will move members covered by its Medicare HMO to a new plan in 2003 that will tinker with benefits and cost more. Kaiser, unlike some other health maintenance organizations, decided to alter its coverage instead of dropping its members - about 24,000 in Maryland, Virginia and Washington. But the company said it could no longer provide coverage that was not more fully reimbursed by the federal government health program for seniors.

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States opened its Columbia medical office this month, returning the health maintenance organization-style of health care to Howard County, but offering more choices in local physicians. The 17,500-square-foot health center in the Gateway office park is the first in the county for the HMO, filling a dead zone in the company's coverage area between Baltimore and Washington. The office will have full-time and part-time physicians. But new to the program is a range of choices for patients, including more than 30 community physicians.

Kaiser Permanente announced yesterday that it will open a medical center in Columbia Gateway Park next year. The 17,500-square-foot center, scheduled to open in January, will be the health maintenance organization's first foray into Howard County. "We already had 6,000 members who live in Howard County or work for employer groups that have offices there," said Susan W. Simon, a company spokeswoman. "We felt that now is the time to open new centers in areas that are growing and are likely to keep growing."

LAS VEGAS -- Sierra Health Services Inc. agreed to acquire Kaiser Permanente Group's Southwest division, a managed-health services business in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, bolster the managed-care company's Texas presence.Financial terms weren't disclosed for the transaction, which Kaiser said marks the first time the nonprofit organization has sold one of its operations.bTC The companies said they expect the acquisition, which needs to be approved by the two boards and by regulatory agencies, to be completed by Oct. 31.Kaiser's Southwest division includes 123,000 health plan members and 150 doctors.

Baltimore County will join a growing number of counties this fall as it sets up a health care plan for some of its 105,000 residents who have no medical insurance.A $100,000 grant from a Columbia-based nonprofit agency will be used to operate a program providing medical services for several hundred adults, according to Dr. Michelle Leverett, county health officer.The services will be donated by Kaiser Permanente.Leverett, formerly a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said the program aims to serve people who depend on hospital emergency rooms for their medical care.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said yesterday that it will shut the state's largest Medicare HMO, with 32,000 members, at the end of the year, saying low federal payments were causing the program to lose money. With two other Medicare HMOs, UnitedHealthcare and CIGNA, having announced last month that they were pulling out of the Maryland market, more than 55,000 seniors in the state will have to find new health coverage by the end of the year. The only other Medicare HMO operating in Maryland, Kaiser Permanente, with about 14,000 members in the state, said yesterday that it will remain if federal regulators approve its plans for next year.

Anne Arundel Medical Center added to Kaiser network plan Anne Arundel Medical Center was added to the Kaiser Permanente network plan in an agreement signed Thursday with Anne Arundel Health System Inc. Kaiser members in the county will continue to be served by physicians at its facility in Severna Park and by AAMC physicians in the affiliated network. Kaiser members are covered for treatment at Anne Arundel Diagnostics and Pathways Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, which are Anne Arundel Health System affiliates.